Buffy the Youkai
by Shadow Master
Summary: BtVSInuYasha This is an authorized sequel to Buffy the Youkai Slayer written by Sharibet. Buffy might be enjoying the sights of Australia at the moment but little does she realise that her adventure in the Warring States Era changed in her in a way no on
1. Catching the Travel Bug

"Buffy the Youkai" by Ryley Breen aka Shadow Master

email : : I do not own either InuYasha nor Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I do not make any money off of them nor do I plan to with this fanfic. This story is the authorized sequel to the fan fiction crossover entitled "Buffy the Youkai Slayer" written by Sharibet. I am writing this sequel with permission to use all the plot elements, characters and other attributes already set down in "Buffy the Youkai Slayer". This being the case I would truly appreciate it if you would not attempt to sue me as I have very little money to my name and the costs of the legal proceedings would most certainly exceed anything won at the conclusion of the trial.

Buffy the Youkai 

Chapter One: Catching the Travel Bug

_Ahhh, this is the life! The sun, the surf and a complete absence of calls from the Council._ Buffy thought to herself as she lay on her back enjoying the sun and working on a tan.

It had been two and a half weeks since she had arrived in good ol' OZ with Koji and so far they had been having a wonderful time with only the bare minimum of contact with the Watcher's Council. Most of it was just follow up work on the mess involving Naraku and the portal keys. However after the tenth call on the subject she'd covertly asked the front desk at Hotel Maestri to block all calls from Great Britain.

_It'll only be for a little while longer._ She thought to herself as she let her eyes gaze upon the clear blue water of the sea, _Besides the view here is way too good to pass up!_

Down in the water getting in a good swim Koji was definitely not your typical old guy Watcher and definitely easy on the eyes. She had managed to convince him to come on vacation with her down to Australia and so for the past two weeks he had been showing her the sights and sound of the land down under. They had gone hiking then went on a tour of the Outback and then spent almost an entire night going from club to club in order to experience the local nightlife. Fortunately the local Slayer was on top of things in terms of the undead so the only nightlife she had to worry about was drunks who'd indulged in a little too much beer. Put it all together and you got one of best slayage free periods she had the good fortune to experience in years.

Even the past few months when she had been travelling to see the world couldn't compare to this given that it seemed every time she set foot in new country they wanted her to check something out. Sometimes it was something small like a critique of a local Slayer or to pick up some documents that had to be hand delivered to the main council HQ. Others, like it had been in Japan, were serious demon problems that the locals couldn't deal with themselves since the local Potential population had been reduced to zero thanks to the Bringers and the First. In all honesty it wasn't the helping so much that bothered her so much as the lack of rest between the helping that had gotten her a little crabby.

_A few more weeks of this and I should be ready for another round of slayage._ She thought to herself as she spotted Koji exiting the water and walking towards her, _Just long enough to shake this bug I've caught._

It had started about a week ago and had gotten progressively worse ever since then. At first she had simply attributed it to her simply going overboard with all the partying and sightseeing. With the sudden respite from all things Slayer related she had decided to go for broke and squeeze as much fun in as she could. Being the Slayer though she tended to last a **little** longer than Koji so sometimes he'd head back to the hotel while she continued to hit a few hot spots. However as the days passed and she found herself coming closer and closer to tiring out at the same time as Koji did. This had concerned the both of them a little but she covered it up and said that maybe they should dial down the fun for a few days. Hence the tanning and swimming at Manly beach before heading to the airport to pick up Xander followed by Tetsuya's for lunch.

"Enjoy your swim Koji-kun?" she asked as she sat up a little straighter in her beach chair.

"Definitely." He replied as he picked up a towel he had brought with him and gave himself a light drying off. "You should try the water yourself. It's quite warm."

"Maybe later after we pick up Xander at the airport and have lunch." Said Buffy as she didn't quite feel up to swimming at the moment.

"How is Harris-san? I have heard he has been quite busy in Africa." Koji said as he sat down in the beach chair next to hers.

"Yeah he's been a Slayer training machine all right. Giles tells me that demon tribes galore are booking the first portal outta there thanks to Xander's Slayers." Buffy replied as she thought on the founding male member of the Scoobies.

It had been a real surprise for the whole gang when the first reports of the Slayers Xander trained came in. They were tacticians, versed in weapons both modern as well as ancient and yet still managed to act like the teenage girls they were supposed to be. All in all a pleasant surprise for everyone back at the main HQ, especially Giles who made it mandatory for all new Watchers in that region to do a rotation with the former Zeppo to get the newbies' feet wet as far as taking care of a Slayer was concerned. Xander was of course of mixed opinions about this since it meant more work for him but at the same time was something of a big time compliment.

It had been just before she had gotten on the plane to Japan that he had called her on her cell to tell her that he'd be meeting up with her in Sydney so they could have some quality catch up time. She already had in her mind the questions she planned on asking him and all of them had to do with what things he had left out of the 'official' Watcher reports. After all it didn't take a brainiac to know that Xander hadn't put **everything** into his reports and those that knew him the best had little doubt that there were some amusing tidbits to be had if they prodded him long enough.

"Indeed. I have heard that Giles-san that he is considering asking Harris-san to give a formal seminar at the annual Watcher Assemblage this year." Koji said with barely veiled interest, "I must admit that I am somewhat interested in what methods Harris-san… What is so funny?"

She tried to respond to his question but from the moment he had revealed that Giles wanted Xander to stand in front of a lecture hall full of neophyte Watchers and give a seminar she couldn't help but break into giggles. While her Xander-shaped-friend had come a long way since the outcast of Sunnydale High School she doubted he'd be able to get more than two coherent sentences out if he had to stand in front of thirty plus people.

"It's just …**giggle** that the idea of Xander giving …**giggle** giving a lecture" Buffy replied before getting control of herself, "is like hearing that Giles has agreed to become the spokesperson for the American education system."

It took Koji a few moments to catch what she was trying to say but when he did he too could see why the blonde Slayer was giggling at the prospect of Xander giving a seminar. He of course chuckled instead of giggled since giggling was what women did and heaven forbid that a man should do something girly on Manly Beach.

"Well then I suppose I shall have extra incentive to attend the seminar myself." Koji said as his chuckling came to an end, "Perhaps we should give him some encouragement when we meet him at the airport."

Internally that set off a whole new stream of giggles for Buffy as she could just imagine what Xander's reaction would be to being reminded of the seminar. While she was sure that Giles had found some way of either bribing or extorting the former high school student into giving the seminar she doubted Xander was looking forward to it. In fact depending on the timing she'd be willing to bet that the whole reason Xander was coming here was to **forget** about the seminar. Therefore being reminded of it by one potential attendee and a friend of almost ten years would be the last thing he would want. However at the same time her inner prankster couldn't help but salivate at the opportunity to have some fun with the 'Key Guy' if only for a little while.

"Grrrrrr, Grrrrr, **ruff**, **ruff**, Grrrrrr." Came a primal noise from her right and she looked to see an owner and their pet dog had been passing by until said dog decided that there was something it didn't like about the blonde Slayer.

"I'm sorry Miss. Dingo isn't usually this hostile towards strangers." The young man walking the dog said as he tried to pull his pet away from her so that they could continue on their way.

"Ah, no problem. Probably doesn't like Americans or something." She said almost offhand as her attention focused internally for a moment as she felt something strange within her.

It had only been for the briefest instants but when that dog had started barking at her she had gotten the distinct impression that she was being challenged and like a single heartbeat the Slayer in her had responded to that challenge. Luckily for the dog the response from her inner warrior had been so weak that she had easily suppressed it and the only outward sign of her confrontation was a slightly distracted look on her face. Thankfully Koji didn't seem to notice this or if he did he probably just wrote it off as the sort of confusion one would have towards a nasty look a stranger gave you. You didn't know why you were given the look or who the person was and you wondered for a moment whether or not you did something to deserve that look.

"Well we better start heading back to the hotel and get changed." She said as she stood and began to gather up their beach gear, "Xander'll go nuts if he's left in that airport for too long and I can't wait to ask him how he plans on starting out that seminar."

"But his flight doesn't get in for another two hours." Koji said with some confusion on his face at the sudden decision to leave the beach.

"Yeah but who knows how long it'll take to get through traffic and there's always the chance his flight will get in early." Buffy said as she hefted the 'just right for someone her size' bag over her shoulder and turned to Koji, "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll get some more beach time in after lunch. Xander'll want to come for the bikini view if nothing else, right?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&(&&&&&

Sydney Airport, An Hour and a Half Later

"Hey Xan-man! What's new in Africa?" Buffy asked joyously as she hugged her longtime friend.

"Oh nothing much Buffster! Just elephants, lions and really paranoid tribal shaman." Xander replied as the two of them separated from the hug, "So how's Sydney? I hear the beaches are great and bikini filled."

"What happened? You usually don't say such a guy thing unless you're either hiding something or just plain stupid." She said with a 'tell me now or else' look on her face, "So which is it?"

"Um, stupid?" Xander tried before the look on the Slayer's face told him that bluffing wouldn't work with her, "Okay I may have, accidentally, offended a tribal shaman while recruiting the latest baby Slayer."

"Offended? How?" asked Koji who had slipped right into junior Watcher mode the moment a possible problem for the Council was mentioned.

"Well I may have, kinda, kissed his daughter." Xander answered before looking down at his shoes.

She tried her hardest. She really did. She knew that her friend was embarrassed as it was by the incident and wouldn't appreciate anyone much less a friend rubbing it in his face. Sadly the best she could do was downgrade her loud laughter to a few giggles as yet another example of Xander's bad luck with women was added to a **very** long list. At least now though she knew why he had agreed to give that seminar for Giles. He'd likely been given a choice between apologizing to the offended shaman in person and going through whatever atonement ritual was necessary or giving a seminar to a lecture hall full of Watchers. Given those two choices she could see why he chose the latter rather than the former. After all there was no telling what it would take to appease the shaman and Xander's limited media supplied knowledge of African shaman had likely provided some **painful** possibilities.

"But she was totally coming onto me, I swear!" Xander exclaimed defensively as he knew he didn't have enough of a leg to stand on to glare at Buffy, "She couldn't take her eyes off me the entire time I was there."

"That might have something to do with those shirts you insist on wearing Xan." Buffy said as she eyed the loud one he was currently wearing.

Yes indeedy, despite numerous attempts by friends new and old Xander still insisted on wearing those god awful Hawaiian shirts whenever he was off duty. One of the richer Slayers had even gone so far as to offer to pay for a completely new wardrobe if the former Zeppo would just burn those shirts. Unfortunately not even an unlimited limit credit card and a beautiful Slayer escort could convince the young Harris to throw away his treasured shirts. Chances were that he had worn one when he tried recruiting the Slayer from the African tribe, attracted the shaman's daughter with the bright colors and then a misunderstanding of gigantic proportions occurred. All in all just what she had come to expect from her Xander-shaped-friend.

"See I told you these shirts would attract the ladies!" Xander said smugly even though Buffy could tell he had only said that because he had no way to defend himself from the implication that his Hawaiian shirt might have caused his problems with the shaman.

"Yeah well I wouldn't be so optimistic about your chances here." Buffy said with mock seriousness, "What works in the wilds of Africa probably won't do so good here in Sydney."

Once they had picked up his things at the baggage claim area they hopped into the Council car that they had used to go to the airport and headed back into Sydney. They'd drop his things at the hotel first but then she'd show him all the lesser known tourist spots that Koji-kun had taken her to see their first day here. She had been surprised those first few days with all the stuff that she had had no inkling about when she originally decided to come here.

_Amazing how many places and things the tourist bureau leaves out of their brochures._ She thought to herself as she listen to Koji grill Xander about his Slayer training methods.

One thing for sure though was that tonight she, Xander and Koji were going to party like there was no tomorrow because for people in their line of work there very well might not be.


	2. See No Evil

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Chapter Two: See No Evil

Three Wise Monkees Pub, Late Evening

_What a time for my cold to kick into overdrive!_ Buffy thought to herself as she tried her best to look alert and attentive to the conversation between Xander and Koji.

It had been a whirlwind tour of the city for the trio with both her and Koji relating information and anecdotes to Xander about each place that they visited. Koji however had let slip a few of the more embarrassing incidents regarding her experiences at a few select places but she had gotten even with him with a few stories of her own. By the time the sun had set they were enjoying a totally 'licious barbecued dinner at a local restaurant where the topic shifted to their various experiences with the demonic and supernatural. Needless to say she and Xander had considerably more to tell given that Koji had only been recruited to the cause a few months after the defeat of the First Evil. Still it was nice to have someone new to tell the stories to and even more enjoyable were the opportunities to embarrass Xander that he of course returned in kind.

With the conclusion of dinner they started hitting the various bars and clubs around Sydney moving from one to the other based on what was happening at each one as well as the entertainment they had available. Eventually they had landed here at 'The Three Wise Monkees' pub that definitely earned Xander's seal of approval if for no other reason than the three stone monkeys that made up the sign. The 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' was what really got a kick out of him and had him cracking jokes under that theme for a whole hour. She was immensely happy when Koji-kun suggested they head out on the dance floor when the live band on stage started playing one of his favorite songs.

Thirty minutes later though and well into the band's playlist she began to feel a growing sense of fatigue like she had been fighting Spike and Angelus from Dusk until dawn. She had managed to slip back to their table with a claim of not liking the next song that came on and saying that she'd order them a snack. Luckily they bought it and that brought her to where she was right now trying to stay awake and not look like she would curl up on the table before falling asleep.

It was at that point that some higher deity thought that she was catching to many breaks and tapped Xander on the proverbial shoulder.

"Hey you okay Buff? You look like you're about to pass out right here." Xander asked with concern both on his face and in his voice.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just been partying a little too hard last week or so." She said trying to make her voice sound normal despite the **above** normal effort it took.

"Forgive me for saying so Buffy-san but I am beginning to think this may be more than just you overexerting yourself." Koji said with a tone of voice that implied he was not trying to anger her but wished to be honest with her, "While it is true that even Slayers can overexert themselves if they push themselves too hard you have been getting more and more sleep lately and it is having no effect in regards to your fatigue. Perhaps I should schedule a visit with a Council doctor just to be on the safe side."

"Guys it's just a little bug!" Buffy said trying to sound like they were acting ridiculous so they wouldn't remember that she hated doctors and hospitals whether they be separate or together, "Granted it's lasted longer than any other nasty flu but its not 'doctor required' urgent."

"Buffy **I'm** no doctor and even I can tell that this is worse than the common cold." Xander said trying to sound reasonable yet firm, "Look, let's compromise, Koji here'll contact the local Council Doc an have him come by the hotel room. He'll do the standard check up stuff and if he doesn't find anything serious then that's that. Okay?"

Looking back and forth between Xander and Koji she knew she wasn't going to get any peace from either of them until she agreed to at least a basic check up. With a sigh of resignation she nodded acquiescing to her friend's demand comforted at least by the fact that there would only be a limited number of things the doctor would be able to take with him to the hotel. After all the Watcher's Council was supposed to be a covert organization and people would take notice if they carted in computers, testing machines and other lab gear in through the front door of the Maestri.

"And you head back to the hotel right now and get some sleep." Xander added quickly before doing his version of Willow's 'resolved face' when she tried to object, "Buff you're practically dead on your feet and you know it. You need sleep."

For a moment she considered renewing her protests since she didn't want it to look like she was dropping out on spending quality time with her friends. However her fatigue could not be ignored and if she pushed herself any harder she doubted that she'd be able to make it back to the hotel room before dropping. That was not a smart idea because even though the local Slayer was doing a good job it didn't mean that the streets were vamp free. If her fatigue got much worse she wouldn't be able to see straight much less put up a decent Slayerly fight against a vamp.

"Alright I'll be the good Slayer and head back to the hotel for some Zs but you guys have to promise to have time of your lives in the meantime." She said as she shrugged on her coat and picked up her handbag, "Just because I'm not around doesn't mean that you guys can't still have fun."

"Yeah, it'll be tough without the Buffster, but we'll do our best to party extra hard just for you." Xander said with his usual good humor.

"Go get some rest Buffy-san." Koji said gently placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"'Kay see you guys tomorrow then." She said and headed for the exit beyond which lay a cab, a hotel and then her warm inviting bed.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The Hotel Maustri Towers Sydney, Thirty Minutes Later, Buffy's Room

_Man did I ever choose the right time to duck out of a night of partying!_ Buffy thought to herself as she barely managed to maintain a solid walk towards the bed.

She had left "The Three Wise Monkees" Pub in good enough condition in the cab but as her thoughts turned more and more towards sleep and bed the fatigue seemed to sense this and pounced on her like a predator seeing weak prey. It had gotten so by that one of the hotel employees had even asked her if she was ill and needed assistance. Fortunately she was able to satisfy him with the 'partied a little too hard' excuse and then put her best foot forward to show that she was okay and didn't need any help. The truth of the matter though was that she was running on fumes and needed some sleep in a hurry or else she'd collapse. By the time she had gotten to the door to her room she had a little difficulty getting the key card to work on the lock and was further distressed by the fact that despite her frustration she didn't have the Slayer strength to just force the door open at the moment.

Falling onto the bed she decided she'd forgo the getting changed into her pajamas or even getting rid of all the unnecessary clothes and just fall asleep right there as she was. Since she, Koji and Xander all had separate rooms she didn't have to worry about them seeing her asleep on her bed still fully clothed. Hopefully a full night's sleep would put her back on track so that when the doc from the Council came around and confirmed that it was just the flu or something the guys would stop worrying. After all no flu, no matter how strong, would be able to hold out against her Slayer immune system for long. She was sure all she needed to kick its butt was another week or two of R&R and then she'd be right as rain.

_No stupid flu is going to keep me from **my** vacation!_ She thought to herself as the bliss that was sleep overtook her.

She was small.

That much she could tell by the simple fact that she was being carried by someone who seemed to have no trouble cradling the majority of her body in their arms. However she had no sight to go with the info her sense of touch was giving her at the moment so unconsciously she sought out her other senses to fill in the blanks that her eyes could not.

Whoever was carrying her was either really scared, pushing her body to its limits or both because the pounding of their heart was doing so at a high rate of speed. Their breathing was labored also and that made her think the person must be running full tilt on an adrenaline high. A cold wind blew around them and the rustle of tall grass told her that they were running in a field of some kind and that it was likely night since it didn't seem cold enough for snow. All this led to the question: what was this person scared of? And what were they running away from?

Trying to listen beyond the sounds of person carrying her or the environment in their immediate vicinity she thought she could hear the sounds of a large fire crackling in the distance. It was the next sound her ears managed to catch though that really caught her attention for it was the sounds of a battle between humans and demons. She was more or less guessing about the former but she could definitely hear the roars and growls of the former faint though they were. These facts told her that they were fleeing from a battle of some kind and that the person carrying her was desperate to get the both of them as far away as possible.

Suddenly the person who was trying to carry her to safety stopped and cast a frantic look back the way they had come. Had they been seen? Were they being followed? Both questions were answered swiftly when the person carrying her jerked and a warm liquid splashed over her face at the same time. It took her nose less than a moment to identify what now covered her face for she had seen it, felt it and smelled it often enough in her life.

It was blood.

As the arms of the person who had been carrying her went limp she fell to the ground and with the jarring impact of her landing her sight suddenly seemed to flick on. Instantly she could see that she was in the middle of a clearing but it was night out so she could see much detail beyond shapes and size. The first thing to catch her eye though was the dead body lying next to her in a growing pool of its own blood. Since the body was so close she could make out more of the details than she could anything else but given the sight before her she almost wished her sight had never come back.

The woman that had been carrying her had been slain by an arrow through her throat and while she could not be sure she thought that the arrow might possess special properties from the slight glow it possessed. The woman herself as dressed in strange clothes that had been mostly white in color before her own life's blood began to change it to red. Her kimono wasn't elaborate or fancy but rather seemed like a uniform or something the rich would require all of their female employees to wear. As for the woman herself most of her features were obscured by darkness but two things stood out plain as day.

The first was her ears for they were pointed but not stretched like Yoda ears but more like the elves seen in the Lord of the Ring movies. The second and the one that seemed to burn a hole into her soul were the golden eyes that stared lifelessly at her without the warmth and compassion she for some reason felt belonged there. Those two features remained prominent in her mind even as she got to her feet and tried to get a better sense of where she was and where she should go.

However no sooner did she stand up than the decision of where she would be going was decided for her. As if from the very shadows themselves then armored figures emerged with weapons drawn and surrounded her before she could do more than gasp in surprise. Fear growing within her soul she looked about for a means of escape but found all possible routes blocked by one of the armored figures. Slowly and cautiously, as if they were expecting her to attack them somehow, they approached never once letting their guard down.

For several moments all she felt was fear as with each breath she took her enemies, for what else could armed people be, came closer and closer. However when her gaze once again fell upon the dead form of the woman who had tried so hard to get her to safety another feeling rose that melted the chill of fear. Instead of fearing for her own safety she became furious at the death of one who tried so hard to protect her, furious at those who dared to take what belonged to her and her alone. Bringing her hands up and curling them like claws she prepared herself for battle as she was intent on sending each and every one of these armored figures to their deaths.

She would not get the chance though as without warning there was a sharp pricking sensation centered at the back of her neck. Reaching back with one of her hands she felt something thin with feathers tied to it and then she felt very little of anything as her body lost all feeling and she dropped to her hands and knees. Only her rage and her refusal to give up kept her from submitting to the darkness that crept at the edges of her vision. It was then that she groggily understood the true purpose behind the figures that had surrounded her. It was not their job to slay her but rather to keep her distracted while another dealt the deciding blow.

"We have the child. Inform the General that the sorcerers' payment will be delivered to them shortly." Said one of the armored figures that looked down upon her.

With those words the world around her disappeared as something hard and painful struck her on the back of her head sending her into darkness. It was there that she seemed to say neither drifting into the realm of Morpheus nor awaking somewhere else but rather remaining in between. It was in this place that was neither here nor there that Buffy regained some sense of self and no longer connected herself to that little girl whose identity she had taken on a moment ago. She didn't know what exactly that had been as it didn't seem to match with any of the dreams she usually had where she acted as the stand in for a past Slayer.

A menacing growl echoed through the darkness and all thoughts of what had been a few minutes ago vanished from her mind to deal with the more immediate issue of her safety. While it was too dark for her to see anything her inner senses seemed to be up to the task of letting her know where the growl had come from despite the great echo this room had going on. Another growl filled the world around her but this time it sounded much closer than it had been the last time it had echoed around her. Whatever it was she had a feeling that it was a lot bigger than she was because even with the echo effect this place had it was still up there enough volume-wise to need a big set of lungs to make it.

_The one time I could use a rocket launcher and it turns out to be the one time I don't have one._ She thought to herself as she tried to keep her senses locked on the direction she thought the threat would be coming from.

Heartbeat like vibrations in the ground beneath her were the first sign she had that something was coming towards her and just like in 'Jurassic Park' the pounding definitely confirmed her suspicions that something big was heading her way. Taking a quick look around she tried to find something, **anything**, she could use to turn things in her favor whether it be a defendable position or a weapon but frustratingly found nothing. As far as she was concerned she might as well be blind at the moment since the black darkness around her pretty much made it impossible to see anything

_Maybe if I'm lucky the big bad will turn on some lights or something when he decides to gloat over my impending bloody death._ Buffy thought half sarcastically half hopefully as she dropped into a defensive stance, _After all it's against a baddie's nature not to run his mouth off when he thinks he's all but won!_

Another thunder like growl rippled through the air and this time she had no trouble coming to the conclusion that this thing was in easy eyesight of her. Looking all about her she tried to nail down a more exact position rather than 'out there' but it was not until she returned her attention to the space right in front of her that the entity made its presence felt. Two blood red eyes winked into existence in front of her the size of those big spotlights police use to keep an eye on suicide cases or that movie studios have at big time premieres. The eyes glowed with an inner demonic light and even though the irises or pupils on the monster she had the distinct feeling the thing was looking directly at her.

Now that she had something to focus on she began to seriously question the sanity of her position up until now which was to try and kill this thing. After all given how high up the eyes were it was quite likely that it was at least the size of your average two floor house if not a bit bigger. It was big enough that if the Snake Mayor was here they could have a good ol' fashioned Godzilla versus King Ghidorah style fight right here. In that fight of course she'd be making tracks and hoping that the survivor of the fight couldn't be bothered to go after her.

Giant sized breathing filled her ears as the eyes the color of blood looked down at her and while she tried repeatedly to figure out a way to beat it her thoughts kept coming back to one thing. She was demon chow! It didn't matter that she was as stubborn as they came and had made a career of beating the odds! She was here, in this black void, alone without her friends or even the most basic weapon like a wooden stake or dagger! Not that she thought that either a dagger or a stake would do more than irritate this thing of course.

Deciding that the waiting was pointless and infinitely preferring the whole 'get it over with' choice, as it was in keeping with her usual impatient nature, she decided to get the ball rolling with this **BIG** confrontation.

"So you going to just stare at me all day or are we going to get to the part where you die and I go party?" she asked in her usual taunting manner as if she had all the confidence in the world.

Unfortunately this turned out to be the exact **wrong** thing to say as a new feature decided to make itself known in the form of an open mouth with rows upon rows of sharp looking teeth. No other features of this mysterious beast made an appearance but judging from the arrangement of the teeth it definitely had a snout of some kind. Knowing her it was probably a dragon of some kind or Godzilla's cousin twice removed on its mother's side. Naturally even Buffy Summers, longest living Slayer and de-facto head of the new Watcher's Council, felt a little small when faced with such a large threat. For the beast in front of her though she was neither too big nor too small but rather just right as far as it was concerned.

Just right for a light snack that is.

With speed she didn't think was possible for something of such a gi-normous size it charged her head on with the clear intent of gobbling her up in one go. Given that fighting would be downright suicidal she went with the less heroic instinct of running like hell and hoping that this thing was only quick over short distances. Not paying any heed to the fact that she couldn't see a damn thing much less where she was going she hauled ass as best she could away from the pursuing beast. However she soon came to realize that despite her efforts her pursuer was gaining on her since she could smell its foul breath in the air around her.

_Somebody sure needs some mouthwash!_ She thought to herself flippantly as much for the humor as trying to keep her mind on something other than an increasingly likely chompy end.

Dry wit and determination however were apparently helpless against the law set down by Mr. Murphy though because just as Buffy thought she might be gaining a lead on her enemy her foot caught on something causing her to tumble to the ground. Almost desperately she tried to get back to her feet but as the thundering footsteps of the monster shook the ground beneath her she knew it was too late.

Turning to face her pursuer she had only enough time to see its gaping maw descend upon her.

"Ahhhhh!" Buffy exclaimed as she sat up quick as lightning in her bed with sweat coating her skin.

Her heart was pounding, her limbs were shaky and adrenaline was easily the dominant substance in her blood at the moment. It took a few moments for the fear produced by the nightmare to lose its potency but when it did one question was dominant in her mind.

"What the **HELL** was that about!" she said out loud as she tried to wonder what the pesky Slayer dream had been trying to tell her.

It had been months since she had last had a Slayer dream and before that she hadn't experienced a prophetic dream since Sunnydale. It had initially been a topic of concern for Giles given that most of the other newly born Slayers were experiencing them with much more frequency than her. However when nothing could be determined as being wrong either physically or magically it had been concluded that the reason for the reduction of prophetic dreams in her life had to do with the drastic increase in Slayers worldwide. Never before had there been more than one Slayer but thanks to her tendency not to stay dead and the spell cast to defeat the First the whole 'one a generation' rule no longer had any meaning. With so many Slayers stationed worldwide it was likely that the Powers That Be who sent the prophetic visions had decided to send each vision to whichever Slayer was closest to the problem. Luckily for her there was usually a newbie Slayer in everyone of the vacation spots she had chosen to visit on her worldwide trek (with the exception of Japan) so it was to them the visions went rather than her.

_That means that either the local Slayer died making me the temporary Slayer around here or the demon in the vision is too tough for one Slayer to handle alone._ She thought to herself as she looked over to the digital clock that sat on her bedside table.

According to the clock it was just a few minute shy of three in the morning and that meant that she had only been asleep for about four hours or so. Her body felt partially refreshed but not to the extent that four hours of sleep should have been capable of doing. Back during her Sunnydale days she could make it through a full day on four hours of sleep but with how she felt now she knew she'd be back to fumes by supper time at the latest. It was with this realization that Buffy began to believe that maybe there was something more to her growing fatigue than a simple cold or flu bug. Did it have something to do with the Slayer dream she just had? Was the monster, the thing that had devoured her in the dream, affecting her somehow before it had even arrived? If that was the case then it was a major demon and more dangerous than any one Slayer could hope to handle.

_We'll need to call in all the Slayers in Australia and maybe anyone in less than a day's flight from here in order to beat it._ She thought to herself as she began to get out of bed and get dressed, _Hell! We'll probably need to pull some strings with the military if this thing's as big as I think it is!_

Judging from where the two crimson eyes had been as well as the mouth with row upon row of sharp teeth it had to be at least as big as a two-story building if not bigger. That meant that swords and axes would probably be about as effective as going at a vampire with a toothpick. Sure if you managed to get said toothpick into something vital like an eye or somehow managed to shoot it at great speed through the heart it might be enough to kill the vampire but the chances of it standing still and letting you do it was nil. That meant that they need something with a bit more kick which meant either magic or rocket launchers like she had used on The Judge. An air strike would also be nice but she trashed the idea since she figured the Australian military would get mad if she got too greedy.

Looking in the direction of Xander and Koji's rooms she knew that in all likelihood they had gotten in maybe two hours ago. They would be dead tired and quite comfortable nestled in their beds dreaming about whatever a junior Watcher and Xander dreamt about. She knew it would not be pleasant to wake them up but… well… demons happen and there's nothing they could do but do their jobs. With that in mind she walked towards the door to her room and braced herself for the 'five more minutes' and the 'do you have any idea what **time** is' responses she was likely to get from them.


	3. Skepticism

Chapter Three: Skepticism

Two Hours Later, HQ of the Sydney Branch of the Watcher's Council

"So let me get this straight." Xander said before taking a huge gulp of coffee, "You had a dream about a little girl being carried away from a battle by a demon woman. The girl gets captured and turns out to be payment for something. You're then in this dark room where you can't see a then but then all of a sudden this thing with blood red eyes and a huge set of teeth shows up, chases you and eats you and you have no idea what this 'thing' is?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Buffy replied as she took a sip of her own coffee to bolster what energy she managed to get from her brief four hours of sleep.

"You sure it's not just the flu talkin'?" he asked half serious half humorous.

"While I am not dismissing your dream outright Buffy-san I must admit that if something that large were approaching Sydney the local mystics and Council researchers would easily see it coming." Koji stated as he tried to look as though he were not still half asleep, "A demon or supernatural creature of that size would be like a small sun to those able to perceive them and the energy they give off. I am afraid that it is more likely that Harris-san's theory is more likely."

"I'm telling you **it was a Slayer dream**." Buffy declared firmly while not resorting to raising her voice to get her point across.

The two men looked at each other as though they were debating whether to humor her or phone up the Council doctor they had made an appointment with and ask him to come early. Her irritation at this combined with a lingering feeling of fatigue as well as the aftershocks of the fear the dream inspired in her made for a distinctly miffed Slayer. Granted a small part of her could understand where they were coming for since demon the size of a two story house heading towards Sydney would be pretty hard to miss. Still her certainty that what she had experienced was a Slayer dream and the fact that said dreams had a track record of coming true made her somewhat irritated that not even Xander was willing to back her on this.

_If trying to convince them rationally won't get them to move their asses then maybe pulling rank will!_ Buffy thought to herself before saying "You do realize that as the **oldest** living Slayer and Giles' former charge I **could** go over your heads and get things going on my own, right?"

**This** snapped them out of their dismissive attitude quicker than a newbie vamp running for the hills once it heard that she was in town.

"So what do we do first?" Xander asked using his question to imply that he was on her side for the moment.

"I will attempt to get into contact with the Watchers of the Slayers here in Australia and inquire as to whether or not anything unusual or potentially ominous has occurred." Koji-kun replied as he went over to the desk of the head of this branch of the Watcher's Council, "It won't matter whether this demon is coming here via magic or physical travel since either method will have an effect on the environment."

"Guess that leaves you and me to look through the dusty old books for your red-eyed demon Buffy." Xander said as he got out of his chair.

"Shouldn't be too hard. After all how many demons could there be the size of a house?" Buffy asked rhetorically as she got out of her own chair and moved over to stand beside him.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**Two and a Half Hours Later, **_

Main Library, Main HQ Sydney Branch of the Watcher's Council

"That settles it! Some higher being just lives to make my life more difficult!" Buffy exclaimed in frustration as she slammed yet another book shut without anything to show for her efforts.

The two founding members of the Scooby gang had been looking through the sizeable library for over two hours and while they had found plenty of entries on really big demons none of them fit with what she had seen in her dream. Add to the fact that most of the ones that came close were either extinct or stuck to areas farther north and she had a fat lot of nada to show for threatening Koji and Xander earlier. She just had to hope that Koji had had more luck asking Australia's Watchers if anything strange had happened recently or else she was going to either have to apologize to them or continue researching on her own. Research that would be a tad difficult to do since both Koji and Xander would likely be even more certain that she was ill then they had before and all the more insistent that she see a doctor.

Turning at the sound of the door to the library opening she saw that it was Koji and judging by the worried look on his face what he had to say would either be very good or very bad.

"So what's the verdict? Was I right or have you come to tell me that the people in the white coats are coming for me?"

"Well several of the Watchers I spoke to did say that their charges did experience Slayer dreams within the past eight hours." Koji said looking like Giles did right before the British Watcher took off his glasses to clean them, "However they were quite different from the one you described. Their dreams showed Sydney in ruins and at the center of the devastation was a woman with snow white hair and glowing red eyes."

She waited for Koji to elaborate and perhaps give her his theory on who the demon woman was and how to kill it. After all that was how it had always worked before. She'd have a dream, she would go and tell Giles then her Watcher would spend a few hours flipping through his musty books before telling her the who, the what and the how of the situation. However with Koji it seemed that all she'd be getting is just a repeat of what she already knew more or less. All his info told her was that either the demon she saw in her dream could assume humanoid form as well as a beasty thing or what she saw in her Slayer dream was meant to tell her just how powerful this demon bitch really was.

"That's it? No 'this is why it came here' or 'this is how you kill it'?" Xander asked with surprise enough for the both of them.

"Unfortunately no. The Slayers who had this dream stated that their dreams ended precisely when they were able to confirm the most obvious traits of the demon such as hair color, gender and its eyes." Koji said sounding just as concerned about the lack of info as the rest of them were, "They said that it wasn't like the other dreams when they just woke up at the most strenuous moment but rather like they had been forced to end their dream by an outside source."

"So what does this mean? That this demon caught them snooping and kicked them out of la-la land?" Xander asked with elevated agitation as the possible abilities of this demon grew.

"Possibly. It is also possible that this vision was sent by the Powers to the Slayers as a warning and a suggestion to evacuate Sydney as soon as possible." Koji replied running a hand through his hair in place of Giles' 'clean his glasses into oblivion' method to relieve stress.

"Makes sense. If this thing is powerful enough to destroy an entire city then I doubt we could do more than piss it off if we tried to kill it." Xander said seeking a nearby chair for stability since he didn't figure that his legs would support him in light of the ramifications of Koji's theory.

Buffy took all of this in, both the information that Koji had provided and her Xander-shaped-friend's reaction to it, and she became.

Where were the warriors whose duty it was to stand against the darkness? Where was the 'never give up, never surrender' spirit that had seen her through so many apocalypses back in Sunnydale? Since she had become the Slayer she had taken on everything that the demonic and the supernatural could send at her and she was still here. Hell! She had taken on and killed both an ascended Snake Mayor and an ex-hell goddess for crying out loud!

If she could take them down, one lone demon woman shouldn't be that big of a problem no matter how powerful. After all just because Buffy wasn't the strongest or most powerful thing on the planet didn't mean that she couldn't still come out on top. That was something she had learned during her time back in the Warring States era of Japan with Kagome and the others. If a monk, a Slayer, a miko, a kitsune kid and a foul mouthed inu hanyou could stand firm in the face of demons that could decimate entire villages, than so could she!

"Fine. Get on the horn to the local feddies and throw around what weight you can to get the city evacuated ASAP." She stated in the same tone she had used in front of the potential Slayers when she needed them to listen and obey, "Meantime I'll contact the nearest group of magic users and get them to come to Sydney so we can set up a little surprise for this demon."

"Um, Buffy, don't you think that if the **Powers That Be** themselves are telling us to get the hell outta dodge that we should, y'know, do what they say?" Xander asked not entirely sure of the stability of his Slayer friend's mental state at the moment, "I mean, no offense or anything but any demon that can level a city is just a **teensy** bit out of our league."

"We thought the same about the Mayor and Glory but we beat them in the end." Buffy said as some instinct within her refused to back down from this challenge, "How? Because they had superiority complexes and we made them choke on them! This will be no different. Koji, get moving and get the Mayor to evacuate the city! We don't know how much time we have before this she-demon shows up."

They looked at her and she could tell that they still were not entirely behind her idea to fight this thing and that fact caused her irritation to become anger. It sent her back to the days before the final battle with the First when her 'friends' had turned their backs on her just because of one miscalculation. How could she have been expected that Caleb would be so strong and deadly? All she had been given about him was a vague description and the impression that he was a real woman hater. If she had known that he was at least as strong and as fast as her she would have had the potentials on guard duty outside while she, Spike and Faith dealt with Caleb themselves inside the vineyard. True they had managed to get their acts together and come up with a plan that shut down the Hellmouth in Sunnydale but it was a close thing. She couldn't allow the same thing to happen here!

"Look! It's really simple! There is a demon coming here to destroy Sydney!" she said with anger clearly in every word, "We are the ones charged to stop demons who threaten innocents and other evil things! That means we cannot and **will not** turn tail and run just because we haven't faced a demon like this before! Do we understand each other!"

"Buffy, chill! I know it's our job to stop the baddies of the night out there and I'm not saying that we let this thing do whatever it wants." Xander said a bit bewildered at where the sudden hostility from Buffy was coming from, "All I'm saying is that we pull back until we have some idea on how to handle this Big Bad. We can't just charge in loaded for bear and hope for the best."

"What about what it does to Sydney in the meantime?" she asked not liking one bit the idea of the city suffering some sort of permanent alteration because she ran when she should have fought, "It could gain a foothold here that we might never be able to take back from it! I will **NOT** allow this demon to have its way with this city! I WILL NOT!"

To emphasize this position she slammed her right fist down onto the table holding the books shattering it in such a way so as to make it look like a wrecking ball had been dropped on it from a very high altitude.

"So if you two cowards want to run and hide someplace safe the **GO**!" Buffy declared angrily at the two in front of her completely oblivious to the unnatural pulsing feeling emanating from within her, "I'll deal with this she-demon on my own! Just like always!"

Knowing he had to try and calm his friend down Xander stepped forward and said "Alone is the one thing you've never been Buffy! Not since the cemetery before the Harvest. Look I'm sorry if you don't like the idea of running away Buffy but we're doing the only sensible thing. A demon the size of a house and powerful enough to destroy Sydney on its own without back up isn't going to be impressed by a pointy piece of wood."

Buffy knew he was trying to reason with her, to try and get her to see things from a different point of view, but at the moment reason was giving way against primal instinct. An instinct that called to the blood within her veins and told her to defend her territory against any and all intruders. An instinct that grew furious at the very thought of running from a foe it was her duty to defeat. This instinct was pulsing within her blood causing reason to seem trivial at the moment and an unnecessary tool in ending her approaching opponent's life. She would end this female demon's life and prove to the demon community once and for all why she was the most feared Slayer alive.

"You'd be surprised what a 'pointy piece of wood' can kill." She said with cold determination as she made to leave the library and prepare for battle, "Now if you're done trying to paint a yellow streak down my back I have a battle to prepare for!"

Before she could get even halfway to the door however Xander stepped in her way once more and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Buffy listen to how you're talking! You're acting like the gang's never been there for you and we have!" Xander exclaimed with concern as he resisted her initial attempts to yank free of him, "You're talking crazy here Buffy! Something's wrong with you!"

"Let me **GO!**" Buffy yelled and using all the strength at her disposal threw one Xander Harris through the air and crashing through the door to the library knocking it clear off of its hinges.

"Don't you… **ever**… do that to… me a-agai—" Buffy strained to say but all of a sudden the pulsing within her blood that had up until a few moments ago been nothing more that background noise was now surging to the forefront.

So potent was this feeling in her blood disorientation was quick to set in causing her to wobble on her feet and forcing her to stagger over to the nearest bookshelf and lean up against it. Fortunately for her she didn't have to worry about the disorientation for very long. Excruciating pain did wonders for distracting a person from lesser problems like that. Of course most people would prefer disorientation to an abundance of pain but then they rarely had a say in the matter. In Buffy's case she had no choice at all as the pain tearing, biting, clawing its way through her body left her oblivious to anything but its presence. She didn't even notice that she had screamed at the top of her lungs before collapsing to the ground in a heap followed by convulsions and her fists tightening up until her nails began to draw blood. No all she knew was pain and suffering.

She never even heard the exclamations of surprise and concern mixed with her name.


	4. SOS for a Slayer

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Chapter Four: SOS for a Slayer

Watcher's Council Sydney Branch HQ, The Infirmary, Forty Minutes Later

"Are you sure you're all right Mr. Harris?" the doctor asked as he looked in the one-eyed carpenter's direction for a moment before returning to his patient.

"Naw, I'm fine. It's a good kind of pain." Xander replied with all the humor he could muster upon seeing his oldest friend next to Buffy shackled to a bed not fifteen feet from him.

The doctor seemed to accept that response for the moment and turned back to the sweat-covered blonde who lay restrained on the bed in front of him, jerking this way and that.

According to the doctor the oldest living Slayer had enough sedatives in her to take down an elephant but despite that a grimace of pain could still be seen on her face. She no longer screamed in agony and that was something that he was eternally grateful for. To say that he was a mess emotionally would have been an understatement.

It had rendered him speechless when he had seen his friend collapse in agony onto the floor of the library and given that he was a chatterbox second only to Willow and that was saying something. Koji had tried frantically to talk to her, to find out what was wrong, but it soon became clear that the former defender of Sunnydale was lost inside a room of pain.

Once it had been established that basic First Aid wouldn't do a thing, Xander had stayed with Buffy while Koji ran to summon the doctor for this branch of the Council. The Doc had arrived about ten minutes ago and after much difficulty caused by the patient's inhuman strength they had gotten her to the infirmary. During the last ten minutes, though, the doctor's 'hmmms' were becoming increasingly frequent which unless he came from an alternate universe was not of the good.

"How is she, Doctor Gibson?" Koji asked, leaning on the doorframe of the infirmary.

"It's a little early for you to be asking for a diagnosis, Mr. Minamide." Dr. Gibson replied as he tried to get a good look in Buffy's eyes.

"I understand that but can you tell us anything at all?" Koji asked.

"Well I can't detect any signs of head trauma nor do there appear to be any other obvious signs of injury anywhere on her body." Gibson replied, "Given a Slayer's ability to recover from virtually any serious wound, though, the fact that I can't see any injuries doesn't mean much. Has she been out patrolling?"

"No. In fact she was rather pleased to discover that the Slayers stationed here in Australia were so on top of things." Koji replied, "She was really looking forward to being able to enjoy her vacation without any interruptions."

"Did she have any dizzy spells? Difficulty focusing?" Gibson asked.

"She has been getting rather tired lately." Koji replied, "The both of us just figured that she had just been overexerting herself with all the partying. It wasn't until last night when she could barely stay on her feet at the pub that we decided to take her to see a doctor."

"How long has this increasing fatigue been going on?" Gibson asked with significant interest.

"About two weeks I think? That was when she started to seem a bit off to me." Koji replied.

"And you didn't think it was a little off for a Slayer to be getting unusually tired?" Xander asked in a tone that implied that Koji should have looked into matters sooner.

"Her excuse for her fatigue seemed perfectly plausible given that she was often out all night." Koji responded a bit defensively, "I tried the first few nights to keep up with her but at the pace she had set for herself I was completely exhausted in a little over two hours. It was only in the last few days that she began turning in for the night at about the same time as I did. Besides Buffy isn't the sort of person to admit she's not feeling well until it becomes impossible to cover up the symptoms. I've been around her long enough to learn that much about her at least."

He had to admit that he was right that Buffy wouldn't have let on that she wasn't feeling well if she could help it. Her fear of hospitals was great even now after facing things that should have made Sunnydale General look like a bug by comparison.

"Did you frequent any places in particular? Follow any sort of pattern that someone might have taken notice of?" Gibson asked as he took a blood sample.

"No. If there was anything that could have been said about our trips around the city it would have been that there was **no** pattern to them." Koji said in an amused tone, "We only returned to 'The 3 Wise Monkees' pub last night because she thought Xander would like to see it."

"Then it is unlikely that someone could have been waiting for you in order to covertly administer a toxin or poison." Gibson said as he labelled the plastic tube that contained Buffy's blood, "Still I'll take this to the labs and screen it just in case. If I were a betting man I'd say that the root of the problem is magical in nature, not medical. I suggest you contact one of the local shamans trusted by the Council to examine her. He might have better luck finding out what is wrong with her than me."

With that the doctor left Xander and Koji to their own devices.

"I'll get on the phone to a representative." Koji said, "He should be able to pass along a message to the shaman we need."

"Don't bother." Xander said as he pulled out his cell phone and began to quickly dial a number, "If we're going to get magic help for Buffy then we're getting the best."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**London, England, Main HQ of the Watcher's Council Organization,**_

_**9:10p.m(local time)**_

"Willow! Phone for you! It's Xander!" yelled one of the baby Slayers currently assigned to the main office of the Council.

"I'll take it here!" she yelled back as she reached over to the phone sitting on a table next to the couch she was sitting on.

It was something of a surprise to be hearing from Xander so soon. He had left for Sydney to hook up with Buffy just yesterday so she didn't expect to be hearing about how cool the land down under was for at least another two days. That was about how long she figured he'd last before having to spend a day in his hotel room recovering from exhaustion and over indulging in the local cuisine.

She had wanted to go and join them herself but being the head Wiccan for the Council was hard work, especially now since she was in the middle of negotiating a treaty of sorts with a community of magic users that was almost completely isolated from the rest of the world. The gang had stumbled across it completely by accident during their search for newly awakened Slayers and matters were entering the final stages of completion as far as negotiations were concerned. Within the next week, if everything went according to plan, they would be on good terms with these people and allowed to enter their society without being cursed into the next decade.

Personally she would be thankful just to never have to be in the presence of that incompetent fool of a Minister who had been the one thing dragging the negotiations out for so long. He had argued almost every proposal made or agreed to even if it came from one of his own people and had only grudgingly came to accept the treaty as it stood now.

_Fudge makes Travers look likeable!_ Willow thought as she pressed the button that would connect her to the line Xander was on.

"Hey Xander! How's Australia?" she asked with genuine interest and good cheer.

"Not good. Look Willow I need you to get Giles and get down here ASAP." Xander replied in a voice that not only told her to listen but that what he had to say was important.

"Why? What's wrong?" Willow asked but then it came to her, "Has something happened to Buffy?"

"She collapsed a-and Willow… it's bad. The doc had to slap some restraints on her." Xander replied as he tried to get the important facts out without letting his emotions overtake him, "He doesn't know what's wrong with her but figures it's probably magic or something. Willow… she's in pain."

Hearing her friend in such an emotional maelstrom and hearing that the other was seriously ill were two things that individually had the ability to shake her but to have them both hit at the same time was almost enough to make her brain shut down. Half her mind was on the verge of going into shock while the other half was busy trying to figure out what could have hurt Buffy so badly. The end result was a frozen Willow just staring off into space completely oblivious to everything else.

"Willow? You still there?" Xander asked from the phone with concern before cluing in somehow to what must have happened, "Willow, someone's hacked into your computer."

"Impossible! No way! I have that thing locked up tighter then Dawn's diary!" Willow exclaimed as she snapped out of her dazed state then current events came back to her, "We'll be there in a couple of minutes. Just sit tight!"

"A couple of minutes? Willow what're—" Xander started to ask but Willow was no longer paying attention to him as she got up and hung up on him.

Willow Rosenberg didn't even acknowledge that she had hung up on her bestest bud since pre-school. At that moment her mind was set on the mission at hand which was to gather the gang and all the materials she'd need to examine Buffy and then cure her.

So focused was she on this mission that she no longer saw the Slayers, Watchers or Wiccans in training as people but rather as obstacles to be navigated around. To the people who saw her she looked like a bomb set to go off if it was given even the smallest of bumps. Needless to say that was enough for them to clear a path and pass the word onto whomever they could not to get in the redheaded Wiccan's way. Ten minutes later, she had Dawn following her, along with Faith and ex-principal Wood, who were in town delivering a magical artifact they had 'liberated' from a demon clan in Cleveland.

Not even bothering to knock, she pushed open the doors to Giles' office with a telekinetic push that might have been just a skosh too hard since it left cracks in the walls. Giles stood up with a jolt from his chair behind his desk.

"What do you know?" Giles asked, not even bothering to say who he was asking about.

"According to Xander, Buffy is unconscious but in pain. The Council doctor there can't find a medical reason for her condition, which makes it a magical affliction." Willow replied as if reading a report or using a tape recorder to transcribe something, "Apparently the pain is so bad that they had to put her in restraints to keep her from hurting herself by accident."

"Give me a few moments to delegate some duties and I'll join you in the library to pick up some relevant volumes." Giles said as he reached for the phone.

Willow's impatience grew as more time went on, but eventually Giles and the others succeeded in quickly redistributing their responsibilities among those capable of handling them.

Once the group reached the library things moved more swiftly, because if there was one thing that the core group of the reformed Watcher's Council knew how to do was assemble the relevant research materials. Then using a reduction spell shrank the pile so that it could fit in two suitcases instead of the four that it would have taken had the books and scrolls been left at their original size. It was when they walked out of the library that Dawn seemed to clue into one detail that everyone else seemed to have overlooked.

"How exactly are we going to get to Sydney?" Dawn asked and she got her reply not in words but in a sight that spoke volumes about how upset Willow was right then.

Like some higher being was playing with its paint or photo manipulation program Willow's hair flowed from its usual red to snow white in a matter of seconds. A soft glow began to surround her and then expand to encompass them all making it seem as if they were all doing the glowy thing that the Elves of Lord of the Rings did. Then with a snap of vacuum being suddenly filled in with air they were gone leaving the entire building in a state of confusion and concern.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sydney, Australia, HQ for the Local Branch of the Watcher's Council, Infirmary

With a flash of light that left spots in his eyes, Xander saw that Willow and the gang had arrived, with Willow providing the means of transportation in her usual impressive fashion. Once his eyesight had cleared up he was a little startled to find all of the Scoobies that had survived Sunnydale in the room tucked into any space that was available. Unfortunately not every available space was at ground level, so both Wood and Faith wound up being placed on top of two filing cabinets.

"Nice of you guys to pop in and say hello." Xander said, unable to resist introducing some levity into the moment.

Most of the gang smiled at this remark but he could see that both Willow and Dawn had gone straight to Buffy, who was still tied down to the examination table as well as sedated. Not that that kept Buffy from thrashing about every so often thanks to the pain she was in.

It had been torture for him, sitting there waiting for the gang to arrive, and not being able to do a single thing to ease his friend's suffering. He couldn't risk giving her a sedative because a doctor he was not and he didn't know any magic so all he could do was sit and wait. However, with all of his friends from Sunnydale here now, he knew things would be okay. No matter what demon or problem they had faced back in the 'dale, they had never failed to come out on top and he knew they'd be able to cure Buffy in no time flat.

"Xander give me a sit rep." Willow said as she began to run glowing hands up and down the blonde Slayer's body.

Snapping to military form at the tone of Willow's voice as well as the term she had used, he began to relate all the information he knew connected to Buffy's condition.

Willowheard all of this, near as he could tell, without taking her eyes off of her friend and patient. However as time went on and everyone waited to hear what the Wiccan woman's examination spells had to tell her they became increasingly worried when Willow continued to stare at her suffering friend with focused eyes.

While only Giles and maybe Robin Wood had any clue as to how long a magical examination should take, it didn't take a genius to figure out that more time spent examining equaled big problem.

It was when Willow was suddenly repelled away from Buffy by some unseen force that they knew that they had a Giles style 'good lord' problem on their hands. It hadn't been a 'knocked through a wall' repulsion or even a 'slammed up against a wall' repulsion, but rather the kind that caused one to stumble backwards and almost get knocked on their butts.

"Willow you okay?" Xander asked, as he walked over to steady his friend who still looked a little unsteady on her feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but we got trouble with a capital T!" Willow replied with fear as she cautiously approached Buffy as though she expected to be repelled again.

"Why? What did you sense?" Giles asked with growing concern on his face.

"Well when I started scanning for arcane anomalies I focused on foreign contagions and curses that matched the symptoms Buffy was exhibiting." Willow replied as she reached the examination table without incident, "However there was considerable magical interference preventing me from getting a clear view of her sub-dermal aura so I had a real hard time seeing past it. When I finally decided to try and push the interference out of the way… well… let's just say it pushed back."

This of course got everyone else in the room worried since they knew that after the redhead's little adventure as 'Dark Willow' she was likely one of the most, if not the most, powerful magic users on the planet. If whatever that was blocking Willow's gaze had enough strength to knock her back it had to be formidable indeed.

"Were you able to learn anything about Buffy's condition?" Giles asked, hoping that the young woman had been able to at least catch a glimpse of what was wrong with the blonde Slayer.

"No, but now that I have a feel for what the interference can do I should be able to at least get a peek beyond it without getting knocked back again." Willow said as she placed both her hands, palms down, over Buffy's body and began to work her mojo once again.

It was clear from the concentration on her face that she was focusing a great deal in order to keep what happened before from happening again.

It was probably like trying to sneak past Snyder's office without getting caught. It only took the tiniest of sounds to alert the troll to someone in need of a detention. Even Buffy had tried to sneak around behind Snyder's back but her Slayer speed and agility only reduced the number of times she got caught. Hopefully Willow would be smart enough with her magic to slip past the interference that seemed to have a sharp dislike of intruders.

"Well that I didn't expect." Willow muttered to herself.

"What is it?" Dawn asked with concern from the foot of the examination table.

"I've managed to get past the bulk of the interference that was obscuring Buffy from my Sight but I've found something rather strange." Willow replied without breaking her concentration or ceasing her examination of the downed Slayer, "From what I can tell the Slayer part of her actually seems to be getting stronger."

"What? Stronger you say? How?" Giles asked in surprise and the others could tell that the Watcher had never before heard of such a thing.

"Well think of it like the colors on your TV. The Slayer essence is usually present and looks normal like images on television with the brightness and contrast settings just right so that everything looks normal." Willow replied trying to put what her magical senses were telling her into words, "When I look at the Slayer essence in Buffy right now its like someone fiddled with the brightness setting and is randomly increasing how bright it looks."

"Randomly you say?" Giles asked as he tried to apply what Willow was telling him to his knowledge of Slayers and magic in general.

"Yeah. One minute it increases just enough so I can tell the difference and the next it takes a big step forward." Willow replied before her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, "What the…? What's going on here?"

"What is it?" Dawn asked.

"What do you see?" Giles inquired.

"I ran a deeper scan to see if there was anything sneaky going on and **boy** did I find something." Willow replied as her gestures became quicker as well as sharper, "The only problem is it doesn't make any sense. From what I can tell the Slayer essence is doing something to Buffy's body, reforming it somehow. The process is very slow going but it's definitely happening."

Xander was floored by this announcement and from the looks on everyone else's faces they were equally shocked. Faith looked the most worried and given that she had her own personal slice of the Slayer essence inside of her she had good reason to be concerned. As one most of the group, sans Willow as she was still examining Buffy, looked to Giles as he was one of the few survivors of the 'Old Council' and as such would have some sort of explanation for this odd occurrence. Rupert though was busy cleaning his glasses furiously which everyone in the room took as a sign that he was extremely worried.

"So what's the sitch G-Man?" Xander asked with concern and an eagerness to have his surrogate father figure tell him there was nothing to worry about, "What's happening with Buffy?"

"W-well I can only speculate at this point without consulting my books." Giles replied trying to sound confident in his words, "However from what I can recall about the Slayer line this has never occurred before or if it has all evidence of its existence was destroyed. However from what Willow has described I can only presume that up until recently the Slayer essence was dormant or at least stable. Something must have happened to change it and induce this state of change. Xander, did Buffy or Mr. Minamide mention anything odd occurring since Faith was with them in Japan?"

"No, nothing. It's pretty much been vacation 24/7 from what both of them told me at the pub." Xander replied as he came up empty on 'odd occurrences'.

"Then we have to assume that whatever precipitated this change in the essence of the Slayer within Buffy it happened during her mission in Japan." Giles said, "Nothing else fits the timeline of events."

"Hold up there G. I was there too and you don't see me needing to be strapped down." Faith said as she made a very good point.

"True but you did not journey through the Bone Eater's Well with Buffy to the Warring States era or have prolonged contact with several different varieties of youkai." Giles said pointing out the flaw in the dark Slayer's reasoning, "Also, no offence to you Faith, Buffy has had a rather extraordinary career as a Slayer so it is possible that some sort of cumulative effect from her adventures left Buffy extra susceptible to something in the past."

Xander could tell that Giles was waiting for someone else to argue with him and propose another theory to explain the blonde Slayer's current state. However no one did. Whether that was because they could not fault the Watcher's reasoning or simply didn't know enough about what had happened in Japan to construct a theory he didn't know. He had to admit that it made sense. From what Buffy had told him over the phone and when they were at the pub she hadn't really been involved in anything out of the ordinary since her worldwide tour began. Oh she'd been asked apparently at every stop to check in on the newly called Slayer as well as a few demon dens but nothing that she hadn't done before. This trip back to the past in Japan was the only thing that stuck out during her entire vacation.

"If there's something youkai in nature that's doing this it shouldn't be too hard to spot it. Youkai aren't exactly common these days you know." Willow said as the colour of the light generated by her hands changed, "So if I alter my scans to exclude all other forms of demonic energy except that generated by youkai I should be able to spot the source of the trouble easily."

The entire group, Xander included, waited with bated breath for Willow to finish her scan and find the source of their friend's condition.

"Giles? Did any of the ancient Watcher chronicles ever mention what kind of demon the essence of the Slayer was taken from?" Willow asked with elevated concern as her hands seemed to hover around torso area, "'cause from what I'm seeing the Slayer essence seems to be drawing **in** and absorbing what little youki is in the immediate vicinity."

"What!" Giles exclaimed with the rest of the people in the room having expressions on their faces implying the same sort of reaction to the news.

"It was hidden from my earlier scans by all the background noise of the various demonic energies native to Australia but once I tuned them out it was easy to see." Willow replied explaining the situation from her own perspective, "It looks like the Slayer essence is feeding on the youki its drawing in but if what I saw earlier is any indication it isn't getting anywhere near enough for what it's trying to do."

"So basically her inner Slayer is trying to do some remodelling but doesn't have the green for it." Faith said in her usual 'back to basics' way, "Isn't that a good thing? If the Slayer spirit finds out there isn't enough of the mojo it needs around it might decide to stop."

"I don't believe we'll have the luxury of that option." Giles said putting his glasses sombrely on his face, "Based on Willow's discovery I think it is safe to say that Buffy's pain is being caused by the Slayer essence's efforts to absorb more youki than is readily available. While it is possible that the Slayer essence might eventually stop seeking youki the pain would most assuredly prove fatal to Buffy. The body, even a Slayer's body, can only take so much pain before it simply shuts down."

"Well if there isn't enough youki here why don't we take her where there's tons of it." Xander suggested tentatively as he had a feeling his solution wouldn't make him many friends in this room.

"Xander! Didn't you hear Willow? It's trying to change her, transform her, into who knows what!" Dawn exclaimed, both surprised and angry that the founding male Scooby would suggest such a thing.

"I know, Dawn, but we have to face facts here. Giles has already said that starving the Slayer in Buffy will likely kill her. I'm betting the same thing would happen if we tried to force it to stop absorbing youki all together." Xander said trying to sound as reasonable and compassionate as possible, "That leaves us with either removing the Slayer spirit from Buffy or letting whatever is happening happen. Since we don't have demons lining up to do it for us I'm guessing that there **is** no way to make a Slayer normal again. We don't have a choice, not if we want to save Buffy."

Dawn looked a couple of baby steps away from breaking down into tears but she nodded in agreement just the same.

Looking about the room, Xander could see that the rest of the people that made up the core of the new Watcher's Council were in reluctant agreement.

"Very well. I'll go find Mr. Minamide and ask him to contact the Higurashi family. We may need to use the well if the youki in modern-day Japan proves inadequate." Giles said as he began to make his way to the door of the infirmary, "Willow, if you could call the local airport and have the Council's private jet fuelled and ready for take-off, we should be in the air inside of an hour."

"I'm on it." Willow said.

Xander hoped that they could get Buffy to Tokyo quickly enough.

_Hold on Buffy! Hold on!_ Xander thought with determination as he looked at the pain-wracked face of his second female friend.


	5. Key to the Problem

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

**Chapter 5: Key to the Problem**

Higurashi Shrine, Tokyo Japan, 7:45 a.m

"Are you sure you have everything?" Mama asked Kagome finished putting packing the last of the things she would need for her trip into the past.

"Yes Mama." Kagome replied as she placed the last item in her backpack.

It was like this every time she prepared to go back through the well into the past to help her friends look for the missing shards of the Shikon no Tama, the Jewel of Four Souls. True, sometimes her mother simply added something extra to her normal assortment of items as a thoughtful gesture but most times it was like this.

She knew her mother wasn't exactly pleased that she went through to such a dangerous time no matter how often she was assured by InuYasha that everything would be fine. Still it would be refreshing to be able to leave just once without the having to think about how she was worrying her mother.

Then, as if some divine being had decided to give Kagome a break, the phone rang downstairs, which got her mother to put whatever she had to say on hold at least for a little while. She hoped it was someone hoping to rent out the courtyard of the shrine for some gathering or festival. Despite the numerous services the shrine provided on a daily basis it was by no means lucrative so the extra money would be welcome. One problem that would be solved would be the repair bills they occasionally got when some youkai came looking for the shards of the Shikon jewel.

Of course she wasn't entirely ignorant of the side benefit that it would also keep her mother both busy and distracted for a few days at least which meant no hovering cloud of concern and worry to deal with.

"Kagome! Minamide-san is on the phone! He wants to speak with you!" Mama yelled from downstairs.

"Coming!" Kagome found Minamide-sensei calling her somewhat strange given that they had only met once a little over a month ago.

Her ribs still ached a bit from that adventure and while the doctor had cleared her for light activity and school she still wasn't back at one hundred percent. When her mother had learned yesterday that she planned on travelling back to the Warring States era she had been firmly against it. They had argued, with both of them getting to the point where they were almost in tears, but eventually they had come to a compromise of sorts. She would be allowed to go back in time if she promised to stay well clear of any danger and not do anything to make her condition any worse.

Walking down the steps as quickly as she could without jarring her ribs she arrived in the kitchen in time to hear her mother exchanging the usual polite pleasantries with Minamide-sensei.

"Well Kagome is here now so I'll let the two of you talk." Mama said in her kind way, "It was a pleasure speaking with you again, Minamide-san."

"Moshi-moshi Minamide-sensei! It's good to hear from you again." Kagome said, honestly happy to hear from him again, "Are you and Buffy-chan enjoying Australia?"

"I'm afraid that matters have taken a turn for the worse." Minamide-sensei replied, although it was a bit difficult to hear what he was saying due to some noise in the background on his end of the line, "Buffy-san has become seriously ill and we believe it may have something to do with her trip to the Warring States era."

"Oh no!" Kagome exclaimed as she tried to think of what might have caused the American youkai-taijya to get sick.

"We are airborne and en-route to Tokyo. We expect to arrive within the hour." Minamide-sensei said with the now identifiable hum of plane engines in the background, "Did you follow my instructions regarding the portal key?"

"Hai! I buried it under the sacred tree and made sure Mama or Sota sprinkled the powder you gave us over it every day." Kagome replied as she looked at the container sitting on the kitchen counter.

After the adventure with the portal keys Minamide-senpai had decided to place one permanently at the shrine just in case. While the portal keys weren't exactly a common item they would be fools to think that they had the only two in existence. So just in case another one happened to fall into the hands of demons like Naraku or some other youkai from the Warring States era he thought it wise to keep one at the shrine so Mirokou, Sango and Shippou could come to this time to help.

InuYasha of course claimed that it wasn't necessary and that he was strong enough to crush anything that attacked the shrine but she had agreed to keep one of the keys anyways. To safeguard it from demons in this time though they had buried it under the sacred tree and put some special powder on the soil above it. According to Minamide-senpai these precautions would be enough to make sure no demon or youkai would be able to get near it.

"Good. Dig it up and have it ready for use when we get there." Minamide-senpai ordered in a firm tone, "Buffy-san's condition may require her to travel through the well in order to recover."

"It'll be ready when you get here." Kagome said as she came to realise that a friend was in danger and she could help.

"Arigato gozaimasu. See you in under two hours." Minamide-senpai said with gratitude, "Dewa mata."

Hanging up the phone Kagome didn't waste any time. She ran out of the house as fast as he feet could carry her and went straight to the sacred tree. Dropping to her knees she began to rapidly dig, down to where the portal key was.

Three minutes and some dirt covered hands later she reached the metal box that the key was kept in. It was made of various metals and alloys that supposedly repelled evil and would burn both youkai as well as other demons on contact. Pulling the box out of the ground she ran with it back to the house, going right past her now concerned family, and up to her room where she kept the fragments of the sacred jewel that had been collected so far. She was about to open the box and insert a shard of the jewel so it would be ready the instant Minamide-senpai and Buffy arrived but was interrupted by her mother

"Kagome, what's wrong?" Mama asked with concern and a little fear on her face, "What did Minamide-san say?"

Torn between telling the truth and giving her mother one more reason not to let her go back into the past she eventually decided that honesty would be the best policy. If she tried to lie to them or pretend that nothing was wrong it would only give them reasons to keep her here in the present. With a sigh she began to explain what the problem was and how Minamide-sensei would be here soon.

As her mouth did some talking she couldn't help but think about Buffy-chan and pray that she'd be able to do something to help her when she arrived.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Tokyo International Airport, Thirty Minutes from the Higurashi Shrine

"Is she getting any better?" Dawn asked as she kept one hand on the railing of the gurney carrying her sister while jogging to keep alongside of it.

"A little bit but nothing you can see with normal sight." Willow replied as her eyes temporarily glowed white before returning to their normal colour, "It looks like you were right Giles. There isn't enough youki here in modern day Japan for the Slayer essence to feed on."

Xander repressed a growl of frustration as the easier of the two solutions to Buffy's condition went down in flames. It had been a faint hope of all the Scoobies that simply being in Japan would be enough to at least ease the blonde Slayer's pain if not stop it outright. None of them liked the idea of sending Buffy back to such a dangerous period in Japan's history especially when they found out how dangerous some of the youkai were back then.

Giles, Dawn, Willow and he got into the Council ambulance while the others got into a Ford Explorer that was waiting for them nearby. Even with all of the unnecessary medical equipment taken out there was barely enough room to fit four people plus the gurney itself. Once the doors were closed Giles did not hesitate to order the drivers to make for the Higurashi shrine as fast as they possibly could. The vehicle surged forward and everyone inside had to hold onto something for a moment or risk being thrown about by the sudden acceleration.

Once they were underway the four members of the Scooby gang were forced to endure a torturous waiting period of waiting since there was little else they could do until they reached the shrine.

Buffy was still in so much pain that Xander almost didn't believe Willow's statement earlier that the blonde Slayer's condition had improved. Even with the thick restraints keeping her pinned to the gurney she was still jerking every which way as wave after wave of pain hit her. None of the others liked having to be in such close quarters with their friend and not be able to do anything to ease her pain. Willow was probably wondering if it might be possible for her to somehow synthesize even a small portion of concentrated youki so she could give it to Buffy.

For thirty minutes straight they had sit and watcher their friend suffer while occasionally being required to grab a hold of something since whoever was driving the vehicle apparently valued speed rather than passenger safety. Not that the gang would want anything less at the moment but it still made for a rather bracing ride with at least one British curse coming from Giles after they went around a particularly sharp turn.

Beeping horns from other cars that nearly collided with the ambulance could also be heard and the Zeppo was willing to bet that they wouldn't be able to use this ambulance for a long while. Eventually though they came to a complete stop and while he didn't understand what the driver yelled into the back he figured it had to mean that they had arrived at the shrine. This belief was confirmed when Giles, who had been the last one in, opened the back doors of the ambulance and got out.

Once everyone was out they wasted no time in grabbing the sides of the gurney and like those guys that carried the coffin at a funeral (although he would toss himself off of a cliff before he made that comparison out loud) they carried Buffy up the long staircase of the shrine.

They moved as quickly as they could without tripping over each other's feet or the steps for that matter but it was not easy with how the blonde Slayer was jerking around. With Koji leading the way they soon reached the top and found a teenage girl in one of those Japanese schoolgirl outfits. He assumed she was this Kagome girl that Buffy had mentioned when they talked of her adventure here in Tokyo last time she was here.

If the situation weren't so dire he'd probably make a point of asking jokingly what was up with the short skirts but he pushed down his inner Joker. She was holding some kind of jewelled object in her hand that would look right at home among the crown jewels of England or in some pirate treasure exhibit of a major museum.

"Kagome-san! We have to get her through the well immediately." Koji said as the teenage girl joined their group as they headed to the small building that Xander assumed house this 'well', "Be prepared to activate the key the moment we are inside."

"Hai!" Kagome said as Robin Wood and Faith pushed the doors to the building open.

Once inside Xander was momentarily puzzled at the sheer commonplace appearance of the well and the interior of the building itself. After all with a name like 'The Bone Eater's Well' he was expecting a perpetual layer of fog lining the ground as well as maybe an eerie light coming from inside the well itself. A moment later though he remembered that not everything advertised its wacky demony nature with a light show and special effects like in the movies. In fact the most dangerous tended to appear perfectly ordinary to the naked eye until it made its move and by then it was usually all over except for the screaming and the dying.

"Kagome-san, please activate the portal key." Koji said with an urgent look on his face.

"Hai, Minamide-sensei." Kagome said as she began to press in sequence some of the jewels on the object she held.

Less than ten seconds later the eerie glow that Xander had been expecting appeared in the well with the appearance of a star field as seen on many a sci-fi show rather than through a telescope in reality. According to Buffy it was actually some kind of time portal that allowed school girl here to travel back to the 1500s and fight demons along her own version of the Scooby gang. True he could barely see her fighting anything in that outfit he had watched enough Anime in the past to know it could be done. Not exactly the most heroic outfit for her to wear but then it wasn't like they wore much better back in Sunnydale starting out.

"Alright, now we're going to have to leave the gurney behind as I doubt that it will fit all that well down there." Giles said as he began to undo the restraints holding Buffy down, "Xander you and I will take Buffy through first as we most likely have the necessary strength to restrain her in her current state. Next will be Willow, Dawn and Miss Higurashi at which point hopefully the portal will close."

"Hey G, why are you leaving me behind?" Faith asked a little miffed that she was being left out of what she thought would be a wicked cool ride.

"My theory concerning Buffy's condition is just that, a theory." Giles replied trying to sound reasonable while at the same time maintaining a firm grip on his former charge, "For all I know the moment you arrived in the past you too would be afflicted with the same condition as Buffy. Besides which I want to make sure that should the unheard of happen and the portal key is stolen from us that there remains a line of defence here in the present to deal with them."

Faith didn't look all that pleased with the reason but at the same time Xander knew she couldn't fault the logic.

Reaching over with both hands he grabbed Buffy's right arm just as the last strap across her chest was removed and almost got tossed across the room when she yanked her entire body away from him. Fortunately there wasn't a lot of coherency in her movements so the jerking stopped almost as soon as it began resulting in him just being off the ground vertically for a few moments. With careful steps that every so often resulted in a stumble, thanks to the blonde Slayer choosing that moment to jerk one way or another, he and G-Man stepped up onto the edge of the well. Looking down he paused for a moment as he was hit with the enormity of what he was about to do and where he was about to go. Granted he wasn't moving there and once they had Buffy's condition all sorted out on the other end they'd all be coming back but still the idea of time travel and deadly youkai intimidated him a bit.

"Once more unto the breach, eh Xander?" Giles said from his left and when he looked he saw that the Watcher had a reassuring grin on his face.

"A little too old fashioned for me G-Man." Xander said with his trademark lopsided grin, "I prefer something a little more modern like 'see you on the other side'."

With a nod between the two of them they leapt into the well and were soon surrounded by and endless sea of stars and light that defied description. It was the single most bizarre thing he had ever experienced and given what he currently did for a living and used to do in Sunnydale that was saying something. Eventually they landed at the bottom of the well and for a moment he thought that something had gone wrong until he looked up and saw clear sky where before there had been a dark room and a wooden roof. Add to that the vines along the sides of the well that he now noticed and he could conceivably believe that they were now in a different time.

"We had best get ourselves out of the well now Xander." Giles said he felt around the stone wall in front of him for a place he could get a grip, "The others will likely be along shortly so it will get rather short on space fairly quickly if we remain."

"Gotcha G-Man." Xander said as he removed his right hand from Buffy's arm and began to look for handholds of his own.

It took a few moments but eventually they were able to find some purchase and began to rather awkwardly climb up the side of the well with a tamer Buffy held between them.

If what he was seeing was any indication it appeared that the plan to help the blonde Slayer was working. She was still visibly in pain but the thrashing and jerking had toned down considerably, which made the task of getting out of the well easier.

It was a little awkward once they reached the top since they didn't have the use of both hands to pull themselves over the top but eventually all three of them made it out of the well and onto the green grass surrounding the well. Deciding to take a small breather while he and Giles waited for the others to come through, he looked at the environment around him. It looked like just about every other forest in the world but then again since botany and biology weren't exactly on speaking terms with him he could be looking at a rare species of plant and be not the wiser.

He was about to say something to Giles when he heard the sounds of something running very quickly in our direction and not particularly caring about any bushes that got in its way.

Worried that one of the local demons had smelt fresh meat and come running, he put himself between Buffy and Giles, hoping to shield them from the worst of it.

Not that he'd be able to do much, considering his lack of depth perception along with no weapon within arm's reach. Still he at least hoped that he'd be able to give Giles a few minutes to come up with some super spell to hit the demon with otherwise they were all dead.

Bracing himself and remembering everything he had ever learned about dealing with demons, he waited for whatever was headed their way. What eventually emerged from the forest and vegetation was not exactly what he had been expecting in the slightest.

Standing at the edge of the clearing surrounding the well was what looked like a teenage boy. That is if the Zeppo ignored the long white hair, amber eyes, claws and fangs that at the moment were being shown off since the teen was currently growling at them. Wearing baggy red pants with an equally baggy shirt, while odd, did nothing to diminish how fierce the guy looked and Xander was quickly motivated to prevent things from devolving into a fight. However he had a limited grasp of modern Japanese never mind whatever version they used back in the 1500s so he decided to go with something he had heard a fictional character say every time he met someone.

"Ohayo!" Xander said in his best 'hey buddy, ol' pal!' voice.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Five Minutes Earlier, In the Forest, On the Approach to the Bone Eater's Well

_She better not be late! _InuYasha thought to himself as he ran along the grass-covered ground towards the dry well.

It had been a whole month since Kagome had gotten injured when they fought to get the portal key away from that bastard Naraku. A whole month they had to sit around doing nothing waiting for her ribs to heal up enough so she could travel safely. For someone like himself who wasn't used to waiting and didn't **like** waiting it had been frustrating as hell. Even worse was the fact that he couldn't do what he usually did whenever Kagome took too long in her era. All it took was one measly look at her wincing when she moved or a glimpse of the bandages and any thought of yelling at her died. So his impatience combined with his inability to get on Kagome's case like he usually did pretty much had him travelling back and forth through the well about every ten days or so. Fortunately for him today was the day she was finally coming back and could travel without hurting herself.

Thankful that they all could get back to looking for sacred jewel shards and killing Naraku he didn't pick up the odd scents in the air until he was almost at the well. The first and most potent of the scents he smelled was a complete mess and he couldn't figure out what it was other than it was putting out a lot of youki and getting stronger every second. There were two other scents there but they were almost completely drowned out by the stronger youki producing presence that he almost missed them. They were both ningen for sure but beyond that he couldn't tell anything more about who they were and what they might be here for.

Picking up the pace considerably he ran for the well intent on finding out who was there and dealing with them before Kagome showed up. Not that the girl had been all that precise on when she'd be coming through the well other than to say that it would be in the morning but every other time she had come through the well in the morning in had been around this time. He knew Kagome would probably say that he was overreacting and that he shouldn't assume that whoever was at the well meant anyone harm but unlike her he wasn't so naïve as to think that every stranger they met was harmless.

_Guess I'll just have to beat 'em quick before she comes through!_ InuYasha thought to himself as he cleared the bushes at the edge of the clearing that contained the well.

What he found at the well was not at all what he was expecting but not for the reasons one would think. For one thing the two ningen he had smelled were dressed in clothes that looked like they came from Kagome's time. An old man that looked like he was only a few years younger than old lady Kaede and some guy that was putting on a pathetic show of getting ready to fight. However it was the woman lying on the ground that caught his interest immediately both because he could tell she was in great pain and because he knew now that she was the source of the increasing youki he had sensed. He couldn't see her face with the guy in the way but judging from how the youki was getting stronger and stronger it wouldn't be long before he'd have a real fight on his hands. Flexing his fingers and getting ready to pound these three into the ground he was completely surprised when the guy stopped looking defensive and tried to look as casual as possible.

"Good morning!" the guy said the same way that Mirokou or Kagome would when they were in a particularly good mood in the morning.

This confused InuYasha for a moment as it was not the typical response he tended to get with humans he didn't know. Usually whenever he encountered ningens their behaviour came down to one of two responses: either they would run away screaming or they'd grab whatever was handy and try to kill him. The number of humans he had met in his life that had actually said 'hi' or treated him like this guy was were so few he could count them with his fingers easily.

Before he could do much of anything besides look at the human like he was a crazy person the woman lying in pain on the ground suddenly became a lot more active. Where before she had simply been lying on the ground writhing in pain she now was digging deep gouges into the ground with her fingers and jerking around like every muscle in her body had a different idea of what they should be doing. This got the two ningens' attention in a flash causing them to ignore him and focus on the woman on the ground. The old man seemed to be trying to calm the woman down and at one point tried to stop her from clawing at the ground anymore than she already had.

This turned out to be a mistake.

The moment the old man tried to keep one arm from moving the muscles that made up that arm took offence to the action and almost as one backhanded the geezer across the chest sending him sprawling away from her a good twenty paces.

As a result the guy who had said 'Good Morning' was redoubling his efforts to keep the woman still while at the same time talking like he was trying to calm her down. A growl of the sort that InuYasha had heard coming from his own mouth was the response the male ningen got before he was the one on his back with the woman on top of him.

With neither of the humans in the way and the woman up off the ground he was able to get a better look at her and what he saw confirmed that she wasn't human.

She had long golden hair for the most part even though he was pretty sure he saw some white streaks mixed in there somewhere and given what she did to the old man she was obviously stronger than she looked. It was when she reached back with her right hand, as if preparing to strike the guy, that he knew for certain she wasn't human because on the tip of each finger as well as both thumbs were youkai claws.

_No time to think about that now!_ InuYasha thought to himself as he charged forward to stop the unknown youkai from executing her attack, _If these guys are from Kagome's time then she probably knows them and will blame me if they get sliced up by some demon._

Grabbing the female youkai by her right arm he threw her hard over his shoulder and away from the two ningen causing her to briefly fly through the air before falling hard to the ground. The two ningen seemed to be angry at him for doing this but he figured it was just their pride talking and that they had wanted to beat this demon themselves.

_Well tough luck for them!_ He thought arrogantly as he went in for the kill intending to finish off the demonness with Sankon tessou.

"InuYasha! OSUWARI!" came a voice and a command he had heard so many times before.

With force equivalent to a giant boulder being dropped on him he was forced face first to the ground and for a few moments his mind was a complete haze.

When he got his senses back in order he pushed himself up off the ground and looked back towards the well to see Kagome and two other girls wearing clothes like hers climbing out of the well. Once out the two women he didn't know went to check on the old man and the moron confirming that they were friends of Kagome's or at least that they knew Kagome.

"Kagome! What the hell did you do that for?" he yelled as he got to his feet and turned to face her.

"These are my friends and Buffy-chan is in enough pain as it is without you adding to it!" Kagome replied with the same sort of tone she used whenever he disciplined Shippo for being too much of a brat.

However when the words Kagome spoke sunk in his eyes darted over to look at the person he had thrown over his shoulder and tried to reconcile the short yellow haired youkai taijiya he had met a month ago with what his senses were saying was a demon growing in strength.

No way could that be that weird speaking taijiya! Sure she had given off a youki aura when they had fought, one that was much stronger than Sango's, but nothing like what he sensed from the form the two unknown women were kneeling beside. Deciding to get a closer look at the demon in question he trotted right over to wear she lay, ignoring the looks and no doubt threatening words being sent his way, until he got a clear view of the youkai's face.

"What the fuck?" he exclaimed in surprise as the face of the demon he had thrown was indeed that of Buffy the foreign youkai taijiya.

This was not making any sense at all! How in the **hell** was Buffy generating so much youki if she was just a human? Forget youki! Why the fuckin' hell did she have **claws**! It didn't make any sense and he sure as hell couldn't figure it out! Still he'd be damned if he was going to let the others know how clueless he was at the moment.

"Keh! What is she doing back here?" he asked sounding like he was annoyed rather than confused at what was going on.

"I don't know. Minamide-senpai didn't tell me everything." Kagome replied as she walked up to him, "All he said was that Buffy was ill and he needed to bring her here as soon as possible."

"Great! Something else to slow us down." Said InuYasha as he just knew that Kagome and the others wouldn't want to go anywhere now.

"InuYasha!" Kagome exclaimed both in anger and in disbelief at his statement.

Deciding that he was only a few short comments away from another 'osuwari' he decided to end the conversation with a 'Keh!' and just began to walk away towards the edge of the clearing.

He might not be willing to push his luck arguing with Kagome but nor was he going to leave her alone with a bunch of people he didn't know. Especially with that foreign demon slayer turning into who knew what and attacking anything that moved.


End file.
